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1980s, he introduced Alaskan tineraries that included travel not only aboard cruise ships but also on dome cars to Denali and Fairbanks.
"We are going to make our cars more reliable. If it's necessary to do repairs while a trip is in progress, CRC can fly six or eight guys to the nearest airport to do the job," Rader says. He plans to have CRC enlarge most of the smaller sleeping car rooms, and add showers to them.
"We're making improvements in the itineraries, with shorter bus rides for side trips, and less getting on and off for hotel nights. We'll also have more optional activities—such as hiking, perhaps bike riding or kayaking—for our active guests.
Rader is planning to have CRC build additional equipment for The GrandLuxe Express (GLE) train, including innovative double-deck dome sleepers. “Passengers can sleep right under the stars,” he predicts.
The train's four itineraries—either seven or nine days in duration—all include some rare mileage. Passengers "rail," rather 'than sail, to various destinations and detrain for "shore excursions" while the GrandLuxe Express waits as if it were a cruise ship. Experts on history, art, culture, geology, and nature are aboard to provide educational talks. Guests sleep and eat most meals on board, except for two nights at a hotel at one end of the trip. Lush decor in refurbished cars originally built in the 1950s and 1960s (now decked out in the style of private cars of the 1930s or 1940s), unusual destinations and scenery, and fine service are standard aboard the GLE.
Let's climb aboard for The Great Northwest & Rockies trip, which operated on selected dates in June, July and August 2006 between Seattle and Jackson, Wyo.
Boarding at Seattle's King Street Station, the onboard crew (including a team of chefs and car attendants smartly dressed in midnight blue suits and white gloves) lines up to greet us as we board our sleeping car. We settle into a deluxe suite, with an enclosed shower and toilet, a washbasin, a sofa along one side and a large overstuffed chair opposite. (The latter will be transformed into two lower beds at a 90-degree angle while we're enjoying dinner.) Satin-finished wood paneling and cupboards line the walls, and the cabin contains richly-patterned upholstery and Art Deco-inspired chrome hardware. Champagne is chilling in an ice bucket.
Complementary cocktail snacks, champagne and mixed drinks await in former 20th Century Limited observation car New York. In mid-train lounge Rocky Mountain a pianist entertains at the keyboard of a Steinway baby grand. (If you're wondering how a grand piano got inside a rail carriage, the roof was cut open and the instrument lowered in by crane.) An elegant dinner is served in dining car Jasper. |
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Puget Sound is inky blue today, with wind whipping up whitecaps; beyond are the snowcapped peaks of the Olympic Peninsula. Rare mileage begins as we veer southeast on former Milwaukee Road rails owned by the City of Tacoma, through Fredrickson, and on past Elbe to the entrance of our trip's first national park. A motorcoach takes us into the park, brilliant with wildflowers, for a closer look at 14,410-foot snow-covered Mount Rainier.
After a comfortable night, morning finds us heading southward on Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks. Coffee is available in Budd-built former Great Northern Great Dome New Orleans. Continental breakfast is served aboard both New York and Rocky Mountain.
The next day takes us through the Columbia Gorge, where waterfalls tumble hundreds of feet into the mighty Columbia River, and lush green foliage abounds. Across the river, we can see the icy slopes of Mount Hood.
Afternoon tea is served as wind-surfers skim about with brilliant blue, yellow and red sails as they brave the constant breeze near the town of Hood River. Then we reach the inland deserts of Oregon and Washington, with high basaltic cliffs overlooking the river. Later, evergreen forests appear (along with our dinner of outstanding prime rib) as we approach Spokane. East of Spokane we roll onto a stretch of BNSF rare-mileage track heading for the beautiful lakefront town of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
The remainder of the trip will include more national parks: Glacier, Grand Teton, and Yellowstone, and end with a two-night stay at a deluxe hotel in Jackson. By motorcoach, we'll tour Yellowstone and Grand Teton, with opportunities for river floats, hikes and wildlife viewing. |
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The Grandluxe Mexico, revised on Sept. 18, 2006, is an itinerary between San Antonio and Mexico City that illustrates the many faces of the country south of the U.S. border. Stops now include Monterrey with its futuristic architecture, and colonial Zacatecas, including a ride on an open-air mining train—and then on the world's only cable car that crosses an entire city! San Miguel de Allende, and Teotihuacan with its Myan ruins, come next.
The new Rockies, Sierras & Napa route between Denver and Oakland includes rail mileage through the Colorado Rockies and the Sierra Nevada Mountains, with stops at Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Salt Lake City, and Lake Tahoe; rare mileage extends into the Napa Valley wine country.
The National Parks of the West itinerary's rare mileage includes Las Vegas and the south rim of Grand Canyon; the trip operates between Jackson, Wyo., and Albuquerque, N.M. Other stops include Grand Teton, Salt Lake City and Park City, Utah, Las Vegas, Sedona, and Santa Fe.
A discount is available if you book 180 days ahead. For the Great Northwest & Rockies trip we took, the early booking price for the least expensive cabin is $4,370 per person. Rates reach $6,450 per person, double occupancy, for the top-of-the-line Grand Suite. Prices include meals, hotels, and excursions.
Your travel agent can book your entire Grand Luxe Express trip, including air connections from your home city. For rail only, you can also book with GLRJ directly at 1-888-759-3944 or www.grandluxe.com |
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